The Evolution of Language

On a recent trip abroad, I was in the company of a delightful woman in her sixties whose middle name happened to be "Gay."  When she was born, of course, gay had a completely different connotation than it does today.  Our conversation about this made me think about how rapidly language evolves.  Bad means good, sick means awesome, and Frankenfood (food that has been genetically modified) is now in the Oxford dictionary!  After reading this excerpt from an article by Nicole Mahoney with the National Science Foundation, you may think twice before telling someone, "That's not really a word, you know."

Language Change 

In some ways, it is surprising that languages change. After all, they are passed down through the generations reliably enough for parents and children to communicate with each other. Yet linguists find that all languages change over time—albeit at different rates. For example, while Japanese has changed relatively little over 1,000 years, English evolved rapidly in just a few centuries. Many present-day speakers find Shakespeare’s sixteenth century texts difficult and Chaucer’s fourteenth century Canterbury Tales nearly impossible to read.

 Why They Change - Languages change for a variety of reasons. Large-scale shifts often occur in response to social, economic and political pressures. History records many examples of language change fueled by invasions, colonization and migration. Even without these kinds of influences, a language can change dramatically if enough users alter the way they speak it.

Frequently, the needs of speakers drive language change. New technologies, industries, products and experiences simply require new words. Plastic, cell phones and the Internet didn’t exist in Shakespeare’s time, for example. By using new and emerging terms, we all drive language change. But the unique way that individuals speak also fuels language change. That’s because no two individuals use a language in exactly the same way. The vocabulary and phrases people use depend on where they live, their age, education level, social status and other factors. Through our interactions, we pick up new words and sayings and integrate them into our speech. Teens and young adults for example, often use different words and phrases from their parents. Some of them spread through the population and slowly change the language.

Types of Change - Three main aspects of language change over time: vocabulary, sentence structure and pronunciations. Vocabulary can change quickly as new words are borrowed from other languages, or as words get combined or shortened. Some words are even created by mistake. As noted in the Linguistic Society of America's publication Is English Changing?, pea is one such example. Up until about 400 years ago, pease referred to either a single pea or many peas. At some point, people mistakenly assumed that the word pease was the plural form of pea, and a new word was born. While vocabulary can change quickly, sentence structure—the order of words in a sentence—changes more slowly. Yet it’s clear that today’s English speakers construct sentences very differently from Chaucer and Shakespeare’s contemporaries (see illustration above). Changes in sound are somewhat harder to document, but at least as interesting. For example, during the so-called “Great Vowel Shift” 500 years ago, English speakers modified their vowel pronunciation dramatically. This shift represents the biggest difference between the pronunciations of so called Middle and Modern English.

                                                               Image by Google Images

To read more on the phenomenon of language change, view the entire article at http://nsf.gov/news/special_reports/linguistics/change.jsp

 

I vs. Me: A Lesson For the Kids

Last week, while writing the caption for a photo I included in my post, it occurred to me that there would be readers who question my use of "me" versus "I." Our elementary school teachers oversimplified the rule for our developing little brains: Always put yourself last and use I when referring to yourself with another person.  Not necessarily so, scholars.  I find myself explaining this rule about once a month, when asked to do so (Okay - mostly when asked).  Because it is difficult to showcase my editing skills, an occasional lesson in grammar and usage might be a way to demonstrate my competency.  Today is your first lesson, kids.

My Fitness Biography

For the past three and a half years, I have been subjecting myself to the torture of boot camp at Carrie Kukuda's Get a Grip Total Fitness.  Carrie is a nut about positive reinforcement and posts an article about member achievements in her weekly e-newsletter.  When Carrie asked me to submit a fitness biography for her "Spotlight Sunday," my first reaction was to feel honored: My trainer considered me a success!  Then the panic set in: How would I write a positive story while staying true to my personality?  I'm not known for having a sunny disposition.  In fact, I'm downright surly at boot camp most days (Carrie deserves a medal for all of the sass, eye-rolling, and colorful language that she suffers).  Contributing to the success of Carrie's business was important to me, however, so I set off to find my voice.  I have had no feedback about the motivational efficacy of my story, but I am pleased with what I came up with, regardless:

A Quote From a Favorite

When I am trying to avoid grading essays, folding laundry, or any other tedious chore, I find myself perusing the gargantuan time-suck that is Pinterest. While I get much enjoyment from the hair tutorials, kale recipes, and paper towel roll crafts, one of my favorite things to pin is quotes. From inappropriate humor to fitness inspiration, I can always find something worth saving and today's quote is no exception.

The reason I selected this quote as my first is because, with his prescient novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury has given me the tools to be a better teacher. While I have not necessarily instilled in my students a love of writing as the quote suggests, I have managed to make them aware than not all assigned reading has to be excruciating. As we tore through the pages, students would stay behind after the bell to discuss the relevance of this dystopian tome. When we would focus on other essentials such as grammar, they would BEG me to read, instead. But it was when my department put dilapidated copies of Fahrenheit in the recycle bin to make room for newer copies and I saw my sophomores RESCUING them that I knew I had them hooked on the escapism of reading. Today's adolescents have instant access to whatever their hearts desire. As far as I am concerned, the fact that the words of his novel from the 50's can engage a student in this day and age is proof enough of his wisdom.  If writing is not your passion, then "stay drunk" on something.